Houdini 22.0 Copernicus

Copernicus for Substance 3D Designer™ users

Differences between using Substance 3D Designer and Copernicus.

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Overview

This page is for users that are familiar with Substance 3D Designer™ and want to accomplish similar tasks in Houdini using Copernicus (COP). Though this page outlines differences between Substance 3D Designer and Copernicus, both have a dynamic, horizontal network that uses wires to connect nodes.

Mac

Use ⌘ instead of ⌃ Ctrl. See MacOS notes for more macOS specifics.

Concepts

In Houdini, you add, connect, and organize Copernicus nodes in the Network editor. You can then configure a selected node’s values in the Parameter editor. Use the flags on COP nodes to control what’s output in the Viewers. There are multiple ways to view your output in the Scene and Composite Viewers, so see Viewing your output for more information.

Substance 3D Designer

Copernicus

Package

A new Houdini instance loads as a .hip file. Instead of a package divided into elements, the Network editor lets you set up multiple subnetworks. Houdini uses recipes and shelf tools instead of package templates.

Nodes

Houdini networks are like a computer’s file system, where networks are like folders and nodes are like files. Nodes can also be subnetworks that contain other nodes. You can also reference nodes and their parameters in your networks.

Project

A Houdini Digital Asset (HDA) is similar to a project made up of .SBS files in Substance 3D Designer.

Explorer panel

The network’s hierarchy appears above the Operation toolbar and Network editor. You can also view this information in the Tree View pane.

Main toolbar

Main menus

Properties panel

Parameter editor

Node-specific parameters appear in the Parameter editor of the node. Values considered Attributes parameters in Substance 3D Designer appear in a node’s info window. Values considered Base parameters in Substance 3D Designer appear in the Parameter editor for only COP Network nodes instead of for each node in the network.

Graph viewport and toolbar

Network editor and toolbar

2D and 3D viewports

Scene Viewer outputs a volume and Composite Viewer outputs an image.

To display materials in your scene, see Bringing COPs into LOPs for materials or Using COPs as materials.

Library panel

Use the Tab menu to add Copernicus nodes.

Assets library

Install Houdini Digital Assets that Houdini stores in a library file.

Frame

Network box

Substance function graphs

VOPs and VEX

Grayscale

Mono

Links

Wires

Built-in variables

Variables and attributes

Hotkeys and tips

Function

Copernicus

Connect nodes

  • To connect a new node to the output of a selected node, press ⇧ Shift + Enter after you find the node in the Tab menu.

  • To connect a node between two nodes, drag the node onto the wire between the two nodes.

Cut wires

Hold Y while you drag the mouse over the wire you want to cut.

You can also shake a node to disconnect all of its wires.

Swap wires

Select the node with the inputs you want to switch and press ⇧ Shift + R.

Reposition wires

Drag a wire to a different input.

Change wire style

Press ⇧ Shift + S in the network editor to change between straight and rounded wires.

Reset to default values

a parameter and choose Revert to Defaults.

Create anchors

Hold Alt and click a wire.

Reframe nodes in the network

Press F in the network editor. The network zooms to frame either the selected node or, if none are selected, all nodes.

Align nodes

Press L in the network editor.

Turn transparency on and off

in the Composite Viewer and turn Display Options on. In the Display Options toolbar, click the Toggle Transparency button on or off.

You can also press ⌃ Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + T in the Composite Viewer.

Referencing parameters

You can copy parameters within the same node or across nodes.

  1. the parameter you want to reference and choose Copy Parameter.

  2. the parameter where you want to paste the reference and choose Paste Relative References.

See the following for more information about referencing parameters and nodes:

Promoting functions

In the Parameter editor of the node you want to edit, click the Parameter Edit Menu button and choose Edit Parameter Interface.

The Edit Parameter Interface window is similar to the Parameters tab in the Edit Operator Type Properties window, so see Parameters tab for more information.

Inspect pixels

in the Composite Viewer and turn Inpsect on. Hover over the image to view the pixel information.

Nodes

The following table outlines where to find certain Substance 3D Designer node operations in Copernicus. For more information, see COP nodes.

Note

To search for nodes, press ⇥ Tab in the Network editor or Viewer.

Substance 3D Designer

Copernicus

Alpha Merge node

Blend

Set the Mode to Add and wire an alpha into the bg or fg input.

Ambient Occlusion (HBAO) node

Height to Ambient Occlusion

Auto Levels node

Equalize

Base Material node

Preview Material

Bevel node

Feather

Directional Blur node

Streak Blur

Distance node

Feather and Extrapolate Boundaries

See Distance node for more information about how to configure these COPs so they act like a Distance node.

Dot (Portal) node

Null and Fetch

Flood Fill nodes

Segment by Connectivity and UV Map by ID

Random Mono and Random RGB nodes perform similar functions as Substance 3D Designer’s Flood Fill to Random Grayscale and Flood Fill to Random Color nodes, respectively.

Gradient nodes

Ramp nodes

Histogram nodes

Remap nodes

For example, set the Operation to Threshold to perform a similar function as Substance 3D Designer’s Histogram Scan node.

HSL node

HSV nodes (where value replaces lightness)

Levels node

Remap

Make It Tile nodes

Tile Pattern and Feather

See Distance node for more information about how to configure these COPs to clean up the outlines of edges.

Min Max node

Statistics

Output node

Null and ROP Image

Perlin Noise node

Fractal Noise

RGBA Split node

Channel Split

Shape node

SDF Shape wired into an SDF to Mono

Slope Blur node

Distort by Slope (recipe)

Splatter nodes

Scatter Shapes and Scatter on Curves

Tile Generator node

Tile Pattern

Tile Sampler node

Scatter Shapes

Uniform Color node

Constant

Warp node

Distort

Use cases

The following are examples of how to set up certain COP nodes so that they work similarly to the relevant Substance 3D Designer nodes.

Distance node

A common workflow in Substance 3D Designer is to make edges and then add those edges to a flood fill. This often results in ragged edges. As an alternative to their Distance node, you can use the Feather COP or Extrapolate Boundaries COP to clean up the edges' outline.

Feather COP

The following is an example of how to clean up the outlines of edges with the Feather COP.

  1. Create a Tile Pattern COP in your Copernicus network.

  2. Add a Feather COP.

  3. Wire the Tile Pattern COP’s tiles output into the Feather COP’s source input.

  4. In the Feather COP, set Feather Direction to Circle. This creates smoother results.

  5. (Optional) Turn on the Feather from High to Low parameter to expand the outer edges of the pattern shape into the background.

  6. Adjust the Distance for Unit Change parameter until you get the desired output.

You can also use the Feather COP to expand and shrink shapes.

  1. Create a Tile Pattern COP in your Copernicus network.

  2. Add a Feather COP.

  3. Wire the Tile Pattern COP’s tiles output into the Feather COP’s source input.

  4. In the Feather COP, adjust the Distance for Unit Change parameter until you get the desired output.

  5. Add a Remap COP.

  6. In the Remap COP, set Operation to Threshold and Threshold When to Greater.

  7. Adjust the Threshold parameter until you get the desired output.

  8. Wire the Feather COP’s feather output into the Remap COP’s source input.

  9. Turn on the Remap COP’s display flag and select the Feather COP.

  10. Turn the Feather from High to Low parameter on to expand the outer edges of the pattern shape into the background or off to shrink the outer edges of the pattern shape inwards.

Extrapolate Boundaries COP

The following is an example of how to clean up the outlines of edges with the Extrapolate Boundaries COP.

  1. Create an Extrapolate Boundaries COP in your Copernicus network.

  2. Wire the design into the Extrapolate Boundaries COP’s source input.

  3. Wire the base shape into the Extrapolate Boundaries COP’s fillarea input.

    Tip

    To smooth small segments that can produce grainy artifacts, apply a Blur COP to the base shape before you wire it into the fillarea.

  4. Wire the cracks into the Extrapolate Boundaries COP’s mask input. This makes the blending stay within the cracks.

  5. In the Extrapolate Boundaries COP, set Exterior to Unchanged.

  6. Adjust the Threshold and Edge Padding parameters until you get the desired output. See the following image for an example.

    Note

    If your fillarea input is the inverse of your source input, you can adjust the Extrapolate Boundaries COP’s Edge Padding to make each dot’s value expand outwards until it reaches the next expanding dot’s edge. For example, you can do this to create cell patterns.

Next steps

Copernicus

Basics

Next steps

  • Slap comp

    Slap composite (slap comp) is a fast image manipulation you can use to view approximate and live results of a final composite.

  • Copernicus heightfields and terrains

    Create realistic terrains with Houdini’s Copernicus heightfield tools.

  • OpenFX

    Describes what OpenFX is and how to use it in your network.

  • Hatching

    Describes how to use hatching in your Copernicus network.

  • VDBs

  • Adjacency

    Describes how to use adjacency nodes in your network.

  • Filter List

    The Filter List window lets you quickly apply effects in your scene.

  • Copernicus tips

    Useful tips and information while using COPs.

Dynamics

Machine Learning

Advanced concepts

  • Normals

    Defines the normals that the Copernicus network uses.

  • Spaces

    Defines the spaces that the Copernicus network uses.